June 26, 2018 Today, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education unanimously voted to approve and adopt the 2018 revision of the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework. Congratulations to Dave Buchanan, Sue Wheltle, Heather Peske, and to the entire History and Social Science curriculum framework review panel for their hard work and dedication […]
Full (Complete) Statement from Gorman Lee, Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies, to MA Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
05/22/2018 by Leave a Comment
May 22, 2018 Good morning. My name is Gorman Lee of Boston, Massachusetts. I started my teaching career in Massachusetts in 1993. I taught in Medford and Braintree, and currently serve as the K-12 Director of Social Studies for the Braintree Public Schools. I am also the Director of Professional Development Programming and past […]
Participate in Mass Council’s Legislative Day at the State House on Wednesday, March 29, 2017!
01/27/2017 by Leave a Comment
The Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies (Mass Council) recently held a Legislative Day to advocate, promote, and support social studies education in our public, private, and charter schools at the Massachusetts State House on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. Twenty educators (both active and retired), college/university faculty, and interested stakeholders scheduled and met with over 35 […]
Reaction to the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election
11/14/2016 by Leave a Comment
After taking some time for my own reflection on the historic political events that have occurred this past week, I thought I would share some articles and remind you with some sage advice: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/teachers-lounge-teaching-politics-in-the-age-of-trump/ http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/11/501604685/teaching-after-trump You can remind students about the fundamental principles of limited government, separation of powers, and system of checks and balances; […]
Social Studies Education in Crisis
03/22/2015 by Leave a Comment
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s decision to indefinitely suspend the History and Social Science MCAS in 2009 has placed social studies education in a high risk of marginalization in K-12 public school districts across the Commonwealth. The problem has only exacerbated with increased emphases of English language arts and mathematics in the […]
Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013
12/06/2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, December 5, 2013, a human rights activist and former President of South Africa (1994-1999), Nelson Mandela, passed away at the age of 95. He was a transformative figure for he held the long fight against racial prejudice in South Africa. His involvement in attempting to overthrow the pro-apartheid (a system of dividing or segregating […]